1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to data processing, and more particularly but not exclusively to scanning of data for malicious content.
2. Description of the Background Art
Today, the World Wide Web or Web has become a critical aspect to the day-to-day activities of people from different walks of life. The Web has evolved from a mere tool used for sharing information into a powerful medium where users can advertise products or services, make social networks, and perform business transactions, among other uses.
Unfortunately, even malicious hackers and cybercriminals are taking advantage of the power of the Web, making the Web a popular vector or avenue of choice for delivering malicious code to unsuspecting computer users. Such malicious code may be delivered by a malware downloader.
A malware downloader is a small malicious program that is used during an initial phase of a web-threat attack. The malware downloader serves primarily to download and execute additional malware components of an infecting system. Malware downloaders are typically placed on an unsuspecting user's computer system by way of compromised web sites. Compromised web sites generally use social engineering and recently-discovered system vulnerabilities to automatically place a malware downloader onto a user's computer system.